We focus on the stuff you can’t master just by reading a book, it helps to practice.
We focus on practicing the people skills needed to successfully moderate a usability test And the analysis and writing skills needed to deliver your message to your stakeholders
With each junior staff, we would run mock usability tests before working on corporate projects This is all about the facilitation to practice thinking on their feet. They would pick a site to evaluate and write the test protocol
The session would be recorded to help debrief their performance later. Either the mentor or a helper would act as the participant, and start out as normal
Then to make it challenging and realistic, the participant would act out more difficult personalities, but also very common ones. Let me introduce you to some of our more popular participants, see if you recognize any of these!
This personality gives too much information and makes it hard for the moderator to ask their questions They are also known to go off task from time to time so they make it especially challenging to bring back to the script In the end, you get lots of great data from this personality, but you may feel exhausted when it is over!
This personality gives too much information and makes it hard for the moderator to ask their questions They are also known to go off task from time to time so they make it especially challenging to bring back to the script In the end, you get lots of great data from this personality, but you may feel exhausted when it is over!
This personality is the complete opposite of the talker. They don’t give away any information as they work making it a challenge to get them to articulate their feedback They give short answers and sometimes very vague answers. This keeps a moderator on their toes for asking open ended, probing questions
This personality is the complete opposite of the talker. They don’t give away any information as they work making it a challenge to get them to articulate their feedback They give short answers and sometimes very vague answers. This keeps a moderator on their toes for asking open ended, probing questions
The self blamer is the person who doubts they are being helpful in the session. They think all of their task failures are their fault, often stating “it is me, I’m being stupid”, or “once I figured it out it was easy”. They are also the ones who struggle with a task only to report how easy it was afterwards.
The self blamer is the person who doubts they are being helpful in the session. They think all of their task failures are their fault, often stating “it is me, I’m being stupid”, or “once I figured it out it was easy”. They are also the ones who struggle with a task only to report how easy it was afterwards.
Once the session is over, review your notes on how well they moderated. Show them in the video where they did well and where they asked leading questions or missed opportunities for further probing. This is all about the facilitation to practice thinking on their feet. The more they practice tough testing situations, the more comfortable they will get when it really counts.
The next method we practice is conducting a heuristic review. Our focus is ultimately on the analysis and report writing, something most Jr. practitioners need practice.
Have them choose a site or product you are already familiar so you don’t have to do a full heuristic review yourself each time.
This may be their first time conducting a heuristic review so set the context and initially walk through the product together. Then set them off to complete the review and document their findings. We usually try to limit it to a few hours. This practice session is less about completeness and more about accuracy with a focus on the right problems, and that the report is understandable.
We then have them discuss their findings as though they were holding a debrief meeting with their stakeholders. We pretend to be the stakeholder and ask for clarification when the report is vague. We also note if they missed major issues or reported on too many small issues.
Practicing these softer skills of persuasion will improve communication with participants to gain valuable insights from difficult situations. As practitioners learn to empathize when writing for their audience, practice will also improve communications with stakeholders These are ideal methods to practice with a mentor since it is difficult to gain this mastery by reading only.
Another activity that mentors can do with their mentees is to give career counseling, especially if the mentor is not their direct boss. Identifying their strengths and advising on career paths is a great way to build trust and loyalty.
While working with grad students and interns, we conduct mock interviews to prepare them for the kinds of questions they may get asked. This may not work in every situation but is helpful for mentoring jr staff that you know in advance will be changing jobs.
